Appraising the Situation

Hey gang.

Well, it's been about a week since the Houghs bought themselves a house, and in that short amount of time Kris has already started to throw herself at an ungodly amount of paperwork and phone calls with various agents working with us (lenders, agents, realtors, etc.) while Yours Truly continues to pack up for the Last Move of the Houghs.

After work this evening, while Mom watched the girls, Kris and I met an inspector over at our soon-to-be home in order to check out the house in a little more detail.  While he poked around and checked things off his To Check Off list, we focused in on details, nooks and crannies, double-checking to see if anything came up amiss.

Fortunately, nothing did.  The inspector was meticulous, and wrote down the smallest of grievances that most folks would have overlooked in a heartbeat (ex. "some of the basement ceiling tiles had cracks in them and could eventually be replaced," "a kitchen cupboard is kinda sticking - a screw needs to be adjusted," etc.)  The only main areas of concern were the gas fireplace, the chimney, and the water heater.

As it turns out, the gas fireplace was fine - it just had to have the pilot light relit because the inspector accidentally shut it off and didn't know how to turn it back on.  The sellers eventually did this, and now the fire place is apparently fine.  Check.

The water heater apparently was missing a sticker that identified when it had last been serviced.  It was clarified by the sellers that the sticker was, in fact, on the water heater and the unit had been serviced a couple months ago and was basically in perfect shape.  Check.

There was a small hairline crack on a couple bricks in the chimney, and would need a sealer applied to it eventually in order to stop future cracking, but it was nothing serious.  The sellers - who are elderly - weren't willing to hire someone to go up a ladder and apply a sealant, when odds were the future buyers - us - could buy a sealant at Home Depot, scale a ladder, and apply it ourselves for free.  Check.

So, all in all, we got, really, really lucky with this purchase.  Our inspector couldn't believe the shape the house was in, and repeated several times that this elderly couple must have just upgraded the hell out of this house on a regular basis to keep it in the shape it's currently in.  Something Kris and I are obviously pretty cool with.

Anyway, here's some pics of our latest walk through of our next home. . .

We totally missed it before, but apparently our house has a sprinkler system built in.  Which is a definite bonus.

We're thinking of putting the piano against this wall in the living room (even has an outlet for a piano lamp), but the flow from the hallway is a concern.

Detail of countertops

Switches in the Study (light for the garage, for the Study, and for the ceiling fan.)  I'm thinking about replacing the switch covers with something badass, but not sure what, yet.

Weird staggering of counter space in the kitchen

From the Dining Room, looking into the Living Room.  I definitely want to put these lights on a Dimmer as soon as possible, if only to rid ourselves of the police interrogation lighting.

(I think they're taking their massive spoon collection with them. . .)

Detail of Study built-in cabinets.  I took this because I'm planning on purchasing and wiring in some under-cabinet lighting to accentuate my African swords.

The now-functional gas fireplace.

Future home of my old world globe bar. . . and maybe someday a desk of some kind.

Basement dividing wall, separating the side room from the main area of the basement (no idea why that carved piece of wood has been affixed to the corner to the right, there.)

Future beer fridge in the basement Storage Room

The future Whatever Room in the basement.  As the only unfinished room in the house (aside from the obvious Storage/Water Heater Room), it was limited in its potential as a workshop.  I'm going to go to war with this room.

I measured this cubby of junk, under the cabinet, and it perfectly fits my wood-faced mini-fridge.  A beer fridge in every room would be very awesome, methinks.

Kris checks out the 'door' to the third bathroom in the basement.

Just barely too small for shelving vinyl, we'll probably use it to house photo albums, video game guides, songbooks, board games, and other crap like that that needs shelf space, but isn't quite worthy of the Study upstairs. . .

Juuust too short for vinyl.

Kris wants to renovate this closet in the basement into a built-in office.

Lighting in the Storage Room

Tupperware pull-out thingies in the kitchen.  Nearly every lower-level cabinets have these, which Kris is on the fence with.

Sea foam walls down the hallway as well.  That'll have to go.

We didn't notice this the first time we were there, but the front door has stained glass in it.  I'm not sure if that's vines or leaves or what.  Something plant-ish.  This door also has encased blinds that are installed between the layers of glass (identical to the sliding doors in the Study), which are super nice.

The Living Room. There's no overhead fixtures, so we'll have to spring for a few lamps down the road. . .

Kris and the inspector

Seriously.  This bush is getting a frickin' haircut when we move in.

Two months from now, this place is going to look a hell of a lot different.  No more sea foam walls, no more doilies, no more owls.  . . . well, maybe a doily or two.  We'll see.

- Brian